website. that's all for today, we'll be back next week. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." no apologies -- president obama refuses to back down if pointed attacks his campaign has directed at mitt romney. dust bowl -- new data ranks this year's as one of the worst droughts in u.s. history. and off course -- at france's bastile day parade, high winds carry a parachutist way off his mark. this is "first look" on msnbc.

we begin this morning with a war of words. the race for the white house is getting testy with president obama not letting up attacks on mitt romney's record at bain capital and the outsourcing of jobs. romney's team has been out in force defending their candidate. nbc's brian mooar joins us with more. >> reporter: if mitt romney is waiting for an apology, it might be a while. from president obama no apologies for the sharp new attacks on republican mitt romney and his leadership time at bain capital. >> no, we won't be apologizing. >> reporter: an obama campaign spokesman took the fight to a whole new level when she claimed that romney is lying to the nation about when he left bain or committed a felony in filing false documents with government regulators. >> he is claim i wasn't there at the time, except he files an s.e.c. listing that says he was

the ceo, chairman and president of the company. >> by starting, but going extremely tough. >> reporter: in a new ad, team romney is blasting the president for going negative. >> this is not the candidate of hope and change. this is a candidate who is hoping to change the subject. >> reporter: romney's campaign wants to shift the conversation back to the economy. >> the president is the outsourcer in chief with our taxpayers' dollars. >> reporter: for now, mitt romney is on defense, forced to explain the business background that's the heart of his resumé. the romney campaign is going to attack the president as a typical politician who does favors for his big money donors. veronica? >> brian mooar in washington. a new report about the severe drought plaguing much of the country is expected to show this year's drought ranks among the ten largest in the past century. today's report is expected to put 2012 in 10th place for the

largest severe drought since 1895. the parched conditions could get worse. at the end of june, 55% of the contiguous 48 states were affected and many of the worst droughts peak in july and august. secretary of state hillary clinton is in israel today after an historic visit to egypt to meet with the new islamic president. she also met with the head of egypt's military urging him to work with the newly elected government. he said he would not let the muslim brotherhood dominate egypt. protesters pelted clinton's motorcade with shoes and chanted "monica." egypt is working to free two americans kidnapped in the sinai desert, friday. being held hostage. hoping to exchange them for an ejudgmentian prisoner. a boston pastor and another tour member are reportedly being treated well by their captors. the first look at other news going on around america today.

in illinois it wasn't a fraternity prank. 40-year-old dormitory was blown up this weekend on the campus of western illinois university. the dorm housed more than 20,000 students in its lifetime. but took only seconds to come crashing down from the implosion. in central oregon, it was all systems go for the launch of a pair of lawn chairs strapped to more than 350 balloons filled with helium. a pair of pilots hoped to break the guinness world record book by traveling 500 miles to montana. but bad weather forced them to touch down after 30 miles. they'll try again in october, taking their record-breaking attempt to iraq. in california, victory was sweet for the winners of an ice cream-eating contest. dozens of competitors tried to scoop their challengers, i guess you could say. in the women's division there was a tie, two contestants shoveled down their servings in 1:23. look at them go.

finally in texas, the biggest problem for a skunk is usually its odor. but this little guy somehow got a bottle stuck to his face and wandered around for a few minutes with a container going along for the ride. animal control showed up later, removed the bottle. the skunk was said to be fine, a little bit confused, however. now for a look at the national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. the skunk owes somebody big-time. it for removing the head cover. >> yeah, he also became the very first bottle-nosed skunk. >> oh. that was set up well. >> i'm full of them this morning. >> can't wait to see what's next. good morning, everyone, as veronica mentioned, we're in the midst of this impressive summer drought, heat wave. this summer is turning out to be a lot like last year. when we had the incredible heat from indianapolis to louisville to oklahoma city. they're getting a little more

heat, even on the eastern seaboard, we'll get it again here. all the heat in the middle of the country is coming our way. it's not like it was cool yesterday, it was 96 in washington, d.c., but the 95 plus club went from rapid city to wichita, des moines, chicago, st. louis, indianapolis, now we're going to get hotter. there's nothing to cool us off until the cold front comes down tuesday around minneapolis and wednesday throughout areas of the great lakes and new england. so the high pressure set up right over the top of tennessee. there's very little cloud cover. many of us will bake in the sun all morning long. heat advisories from the dakotas to minneapolis to green bay. new york and philadelphia also under heat advisories. how hot will it get today? today, mid 90s for the i-95 corridor. we'll see possible triple-digit heat around minneapolis, green bay could get 99 degrees. that is is a very hot air mass, very unusual for these areas to get that hot. st. louis and indianapolis continuing very hot and very dry. and it's a three-day heat wave.

i think the tuesday will be the hottest day of it with 100 around st. louis and indianapolis. 99 in d.c. and then probably the last day of the heat wave will be on wednesday, we'll be in the mid to upper 90s from new york city southward and 100 from indianapolis to st. louis. it's not the extreme 105s of the last heat wave, but this one is more humid, so it may be a little more uncomfortable. >> that doesn't sound too good, but thanks, bill. big ben walks up the hill. pump prices fall and exciting new difference this morning on the internet. your "first look" at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. a slug fest in the bronx, steven strasburg does it all and is jeremy lin's knick career over? you're watching "first look." ♪

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look," i'm veronica dela cruz. here are some of the top stories making news this morning. the international red cross has

declared the fighting in syria a civil war, which means there could be prosecutions for war crimes. united nations observers have gathering details from houma province violence last week. in china, eight people have died and one is missing after flash floods from heavy rains. roads and buildings in low-lying areas were covered by raging water. and in japan, at least 26 people were killed by severe flooding and mudslides that forced 250,000 people from their homes. many are returning, but thousands are still cut off by blocked roads. in england, cooling towers at a former coal-fired power plant were demolished in an explosion. the towers which stood for 50 years came down in a matter of moments. france's annual bastile day parade celebrated the start of the french revolution with military units, jets in the sky overhead and a less-than-perfect parachute performance.

the new french president visited one paratrooper who injured a knee landing after straying off course. and now here's your look at this morning's "dish of scrambled politics." the "huffington post" reports former white house chief of staff, rahm emanual has no patience when it comes to mitt romney's complaints about the obama campaign targeting his time at bain capital. emanuel said at mitt romney said once his own republican colleagues -- stop whining. in "parade" magazine, former president, george w. bush, said he doesn't like the rigidity of the anti-tax pledge, grover norquist has convinced republicans to sign. in a response, norquist, in a "huffington post" interview referenced bush's infamous quote -- read my lips, no new

taxes. said people don't like when politicians lie to them. the tampa bay "times" reports that debra wasserman schultz said she is thinking of running for governor in 2014. jill stein will be running against mitt romney again, and president obama for the first time as the 2012 green party presidential candidate. in 2002, stein was one of the candidates running against romney when he was elected massachusetts governor. politico reporting presidential candidate ron paul suffered a big setback at this weekend's nebraska republican convention. he didn't get a plurality of delegate slots, which means paul's name will not be officially nominated at the gop convention in tampa next month. and "newsweek" says former alaska sarah palin with no role at the upcoming republican

convention says you don't invite yourself to the big dance, the romney campaign people may be worried that palin might go rogue if she's allowed to give a speech, we'll all be watching. that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. and now here's your "first look" at how wall street will start. the dow opens at 12,777 after zooming 203 points friday. the s&p spiked 22. the nasdaq jumped 42 and taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei added four points. while in hong kong, the hang seng gained 28. wall street will spend this week wondering what it's been all summer, when will more stimulus come from the fed? investors will look for clues when fed chairman, ben bernanke presents his semi annual monetary report to congress wednesday and thursday. the international monetary fund releases its outlook today. lower estimates for global growth could fuel expectations for fed action.

in earnings, a last four big banks report this week, citigroup, goldman sachs, bank of america and morgan stanley. investors will watch for struggling yahoo tomorrow. without a ceo since may after a resumé scandal, the company also suffered a massive hack this month exposing log-in information for half a million users. finishing the week reporting friday, general electric, considered a bellweather of the economy, as for data retail sales figures are due out today. that and the consumer price index out tomorrow should give a gauge of current consumer karma. weekly jobless claims will bring employment back into focus on thursday. and this week, ipos are slated for palo alto networks. kayak software, guitar maker fender, discounter five below and durada therapeutics. palo alto is expected to attract the most interest. and the average price of a gallon of regular gas dropped seven cents the past few weeks. finally there is a big change on

the web this morning. comcast, the owner of this network has acquired microsoft's 50% stake in the website msnbc.com. it is now nbc news.com. in health news, a new study finds breastfeeding not only helps women lose weight, but keeps it off for decades. researchers report a 1% drop of body mass index, for every six months of breastfeeding, it requires energy, up to 500 calories per day, and at that rate, a woman could lose a pound a week. toor more information on this and other health stories, check out ut health page online at nbc news.com. one man does it all for the nationals and one man is posing problems for the new york knicks, one yankee slugger loses his grip. your first look at sports is straight ahead, you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪

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customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. welcome back to "first look." i the final game of the angels/yankees final game matchup. >> a good morning to you. if you like home runs, then yesterday's angels/yankees game was for you. to the bronx, eric aybar, pujols followed it with a back-to-back jacks. angels up 2-. the lead didn't last long. a-rod, see ya.

14th of the year. tied it at 2-2. three home runs before the fans were settled in their seats. and mark trumble, didn't win the home run derby last week but buried the yankees with a bomb in the ninth inning. the teams combine for nine home runs, win a slug fest, 10-8. nats and marlins. strasburg can pitch and hit. fanned seven over six innings, strasburg picks up his 10th win of the year, 4-0. to the nba it's been an interesting weekend for the knicks, acquired raymond felton from portland, jason kidd was arrested for driving while intoxicated. now according to sources, the knicks will not be resigning fan favorite, jeremy lin. lin inked a three-year, $25 million offer sheet with the rockets. the knicks have until tuesday to match houston's offer. with the addition of felton, it appears that linsanity is over in the big apple. back to new york where the

knicks' biggest fan made the catch of the day. yankees's mark teixeira taking a swing and look out. the bat goes flying in the crowd, a lucky fan made the grab and doing the right thing by being in the perfect spot. and that is spike lee. even showed off his swing. by the looks of that hack, spike may want to stick to directing. that's your "first look" at sports, i'm big seward. now for another look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> i know you're jealous. >> a little. >> we will find you that hat, i promise. >> spike lee looked like he was a lefty, too, he took a lefty swing. >> couldn't see past the hat. i was blinded by the neon green. >> he stood out. good morning, we had good thunderstorms rolling through new england last night, a lot of people were heading off to bed. some people did lose power. those storms are gone, out over the open waters, only one shower left in central p.a. so your morning will be dry, there will be lots of sunshine

this morning and the temperatures are going to heat up in a hurry. they'll be hotter today than it was yesterday. the humidity is still around, too. especially after the rain last night it could be 95 and humid in hartford. new york to d.c., mid 90s. a little cooler in pennsylvania and western new york from buffalo to pittsburgh. the middle of the country will bake, 100 degrees, minneapolis, green bay is supposed to be 99 degrees. this heat wave isn't quite as bad as the last one. but the humidity levels are higher, so it's not going to feel very comfortable out there. we're going to keep it dry from kansas city to chicago to st. louis to indianapolis. we are now in the driest period, the last 45 days in indianapolis history. they've had .09 of a rain in the last 45 days. the farmers in the fields trying to watch their crops just wither right in front of their eyes. we're going to continue a chance of thunderstorms from the southeast. it looks like minneapolis and possibly back here by denver. veronica. the story is, here's our latest

heat wave, and the drought conditions continue to get worse. >> we need to do a rain dance, then -- >> it looks like on the cold front wednesday and thursday will be the next shot of rain for areas that desperately lead it. >> we'll let you lead in the rain dance. madonna embroiled in french politics. a self-appointed candidate for "american idol" judge and katie has to say no to suri. plus cartoon critters bump off a superhero at the box office, your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. maybe do a little sightseeing. or, get some fresh air. but this summer, we used our thank youpoints to just hang out with a few friends in london. [ male announcer ] the citi thankyou visa card. redeem the points you've earned to travel with no restrictions. rewarding you, every step of the way.

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this is interesting, a new study found that people with a lot of phobias are more likely

to have health problems. or as those people put it, i was afraid of that. the government is closing the largest medical marijuana store in the world down. which explains why today, the flag at white castle was at half-mast. this is big, yesterday "american idol" judge steven tyler announced that he is leaving the show. in a statement he said it's time for me to let go of my mistress, "american idol," before she boils my rabbit. even paula abdul is like, what drugs are you on? are you okay? i want that. and tonight jimmy welcomes joseph gordon leavitt, and comedian damon arnold. week nights at 12:35 central.

time for your "first look" at the entertainment news. "the amazing spider-man" finished second in the second weekend. still, it took in a respectable $35 million. and just in case you're wondering, "ice age: continental drift" took the fourth spot, it's earning overseas with $339 million in the bank. elsewhere in entertainment news, aretha franklin wants to be a judge on "american idol," one condition, patti labelle has to be a judge alongside her. france's national front party, will sue her after the video showed the party leader with a swastika on her forehead. and katie holmes has suri enrolled in an all-girls catholic school for the fall and

suri stormed out of a pet store after falling in love with a puppy that her mother said no to. stay tuned, because "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. president obama refuses to apologize for his campaign attacks on mitt romney's record at bain capital. calling it a legitimate issue, as the romney campaign struggles to explain exactly when romney left the firm. now saying that he quote retired retroactively. the question is, will the bain issue still be fresh in voters' minds when they head to the polls three months from now? secretary of state hillary clinton drops in to egypt to pay her respects to the new democratically elected president and is promptly met by protesters throwing a volley of tomatoes while taunting her with an